The Delhi government has ordered an inquiry into the alleged scam of changing of old denomination notes by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), Transport Minister Satyendar Jain said on Tuesday.
Talking to reporters here, Jain said fare collected worth over Rs 8 crore was deposited by some DTC depots in banks between November 10 and November 20 in old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.
"Since it was not allowed to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes during this period, it appears that some officials either exchanged their old notes with lower denomination notes collected as fare or they exchanged someone else's old notes on commission," he said.
Jain said he wrote to Transport Commissioner to get the matter investigated by the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) and suspend all DTC officials involved in the scam.
"As per the preliminary report, irregularities have been found in around half the DTC depots where 98 to 99 per cent of the money deposited in banks was in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes," he added.
Jain said he received complaints of irregularities during a "public hearing" on November 19 after which he had ordered DTC Managing Director to submit a report.
Meanwhile, the Delhi BJP alleged that the money came from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and not DTC employees.
Demanding a probe into the matter, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Satish Upadhyay said: "Jain's statement that Rs 8.5 crore belonged to DTC officials sounds to be a hilarious effort to mislead people."
"The matter definitely needs a high level probe by ACB as the people of Delhi believe these scrapped notes came from AAP coffers, and have no connection with the DTC officials," Upadhyay told reporters here.
Last week, he had written to Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung about the alleged scam.
--IANS
vv-aks/pgh/dg
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
